As a teenager, Wu Man was a celebrated instrumentalist in China, whose performances had been broadcast on national television and extensively reported in national press. Her instrument, the pipa, has a storied tradition closely interwoven with other Chinese literary and folk arts. Wu Man’s path was laid out in front of her as China’s next pipa master. Instead, she forged her own way, moving to America and working to redefine the landscape of traditional music around the world.

Many Roads to Here is a production of The Immigrant Story.

This episode was produced and edited by Jonah Buchanan with post production by Gregg Palmer. The original interview was conducted by Sankar Raman and Elizabeth Mehren in the Fall of 2025.

Thank you to Oregon Historical Society in Portland for the use of their space to record the interview.

Thank you to Wu Man, for providing selections from her album, “Music from the Dunhuang Caves,” for this episode.

This episode is a part of a series exploring the stories and experiences of Asian Americans. It is produced as part of the Oregon Rises Above Hate coalition and made possible by a generous contribution by Anne Naito-Campbell.

To learn more about the Oregon Rises Above Hate Coalition, please visit https://oregonrisesabovehate.com.

For more stories, visit theimmigrantstory.org/manyroads, listen live at prp.fm, or stream us wherever you get your podcasts.